Pinterest?

By: Rebekah Beachum

If you haven't heard of Pinterest yet, you should get familiar. It's the newest craze in idea sharing and has exploded in the past eight or so months. What was once used for moms sharing craft ideas and girls "pinning" ideas to boards for their weddings has become an effective form of business and organizational communication. I read an article today about using Pinterest as a branding tool for your professional identity that really piqued my interest.

It's fascinating to think that you can use boards with videos and pictures and web links to identify yourself to employers. It's easier for visual majors (fashion design, graphic design, artists in general) than traditional majors (ie business, political, education majors), but that's not entirely out of the question. More creativity is involved. Create boards that are related to your experience (a resume board), a board with samples of your work, or interests outside of your profession to give employers a better idea of who you are. If you plan to use Pinterest in this way, make sure your personal and professional pins don't overlap; it could discourage any employer from pursuing you further.

Another way to use Pinterest is to actually look for a job. More and more, companies are creating Pinterest pages to identify their brand and include boards with links to product, mission statements, and open positions. In fact, you can stay tuned for the LACD Pinterest later this summer! Follow the boards that are connected to jobs and companies you're interested in. It may seem small, but the person looking at followers could be the person that hires you.